Most people know that our bodies burn calories even when we are at rest and most of us would love to burn more calories during the day! But how many calories your body burns at rest will be different from how many calories someone else's body burns depending on how much lean muscle you have, how old you are, if you are a man or a woman and also how you eat! You can actually train your body to burn more calories throughout the day when you are working, resting, at the beach or watching TV and therefore increase your metabolism and burn more fat! Pretty awesome, right?
What is BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)?
Your BMR is the minimum amount of energy or minimum number of calories that your body requires to complete bodily functions at rest. So if you are trying to lose weight, maintain weight or gain weight, that number will act as a baseline from which to create your personalized fitness and nutrition plan! If your goal is weight loss, you want to consume more calories than you burn at rest + the calories burned in your workout AND you also want to increase your BMR!
Holistic and healthy ways to increase your BMR are: - Eating a healthy breakfast! When you eat depends on YOU and your body! Eating post workout can have its benefits. Studies show that you can burn 20% more fat working out in a fasted state. Eating before or after a workout really depends on YOU! You have to see what you feel better doing! In postpartum and when I was nursing my babies, I had to eat before my workouts. Nowadays I enjoy working out fasted. - Increase muscle mass by including weight lifting/ strength training - Don’t eat too little calories. If you eat too little you will cause your metabolism to slow down. - Live an active lifestyle! Get outside for a walk, take the stairs when you can, make sure you are getting up every hour and walking around during work, try new hobbies that require you to move and workout regularly! - Get more sleep! You want to aim for 7-8 hours a night. - Stay hydrated! Drink half your body weight in ounces of water a day. - Include protein with your meals! A few of my favorite plant based foods that contain protein are: lentils, beans, vegan protein powder, hempseed, quinoa, oats, seeds, nuts, firm tofu, tempeh, green peas, and nutritional yeast!
Knowing your BMR gives you the power to customize a routine that will help you burn more fat and lose weight for good! This is what I help my clients do every day. I coach everyone daily inside my virtual bootcamp and help you individually when you need it! Our wellness app has over 1700+ workouts you can do at home, plus yoga classes, amazing lifestyle nutrition programs, meditations and hundreds of healthy recipes! If you want more support and help healing your metabolism and getting into shape or just want to join a fun community of women who are working on their health and fitness goals together, click HERE to fill out a questionnaire to get more info!!
Xo,
Megan